Description
Master Mateo and his workshop. Ca. 1200. Granite
The stone choir carved by Master Mateo as part of his project of completion and renovation of the Cathedral of Santiago in view of his solemn consecration, which took place in the year 1211, included a series of sculptures of Biblical characters organized in sequences of four for each section of the seating, which was located in the cresting of the outside walls of the choir, looking at the side naves of the cathedral. In 1604, the choir was demolished and replaced by a new wooden one and some of its pieces were reused elsewhere in the cathedral. Among them, a series of figures of biblical characters that, in two stages, ended up forming the so-called “Twenty four elders of the Holy Door” due to their location on the outer façade of the Holy Door.
The sequence begins at the bottom of the first left section with the images of Aaron, Moses’ brother and the first High Priest of Israel, and Nahum, one of the minor prophets.